Customer Journey

You have Problems. We Solve Problems.

Service Providers and Manufacturers have their own way of doing business. We are an efficient and knowledgeable partner that knows what needs to be done, speaks the language of the customer and doesn’t require hand-holding during a project. We understand the goals, we develop a plan and we execute.

We focus on establishing the communication style that suits each customer and don’t force them into our processes. We don’t believe in the “call back,” if you call us, we answer as we know that the experience we deliver to you isn’t just about you, it is for the greater good of the project and ultimately those benefiting from our work.

The Bonfire team work not only safely, but efficiently and with great attention to detail.

– Sam B.

Bonfire has done an outstanding job in working safely, professionally and in following all the many requirements on a very complicated project and set the bar very high on quality work.

– Alan C.

I was impressed with Bonfire’s site preparation and clean up efforts. In past years, our contractors have left work unfinished which has tainted our company’s reputation as one of just get it in and move on. The work done by Bonfire in 2017 has really changed that perception.

– Steve D..

Bonfire has brought a new contracting perspective to our business that was lacking from the other contract companies. Bonfire has been able to assist on specific projects with more detail to eliminate recurring job issues that plagued us in the past.

– Brian L.

Service Provider

Customer Challenge:

With the maturing of fiber networks, “rights of ways” are more congested than ever before and the permitting and build process cycle times, are more difficult and longer in duration. With the current Connect America Fund focused on expanding broadband in rural areas, the scope of projects is exceptionally large in comparison to traditional routine OSP projects that Service Providers engage in. This creates more opportunities for complex issues to arise during the design/build of OSP projects and complicates projects with additional layers of objectives and budget constraints. In OSP infrastructure builds, it is critical to be able to react to project roadblocks and keep moving forward, to be able to meet client objectives and customer demands for broadband connectivity.

This Service Provider hit a major roadblock due to joint use attachment agreements and easement issues of a cross county power line they were attaching to. This was designed to avoid geological barriers in state highway rights of way that would have been extremely expensive to mitigate. This roadblock was going to delay the project for many months and cause our client to come up short on their objectives for Connect America Fund requirements as well as delay broadband service to underserved areas, for thousands of customers.

Solution:

Bonfire was able to get to work immediately, analyzing the existing customers network to identify and leverage any opportunity to provide an alternative solution that may exist. Since the fiber build was critical to long term growth and deployment strategy of this area, what was needed was a simple, low cost solution that could be deployed in a timely manner to meet our client’s objective of deploying multiple broadband sites, while the easement issues were being worked out.

Bonfire identified an existing working and protected fiber circuit that was providing bandwidth to a remote cabinet site in the right geographic area to solve the problem. We chose to utilize a passive CWDM filter to overlay a second wavelength of light onto the existing exhausted fiber cable servicing this area. By doing this we were able to add an additional 10 gigabit circuit without interrupting existing service, to deploy an ethernet aggregation device (first in network application for the customer) to provide the needed one gigabit drops to multiple broadband equipment sites beyond the roadblock area.

Why the partnership work:

Bonfire Engineering and Consulting was founded on the idea of being innovative, nimble, collaborative, and to acquire the best talent in the industry. This client respects our deep and complete understanding of network infrastructure projects which drives a completely open and transparent relationship improving not only trust, but collaboration. Being able to expediently react to the clients needs or project roadblocks as soon as they happen allows this relationship to truly flourish.

Service Provider

Customer Challenge:

Due to the complexity and project cycle times of network infrastructure projects, it is necessary to sometimes “build the airplane in the air”. It is not feasible to pre-plan and study large projects to a high-level of detail before deciding to move forward with the project. The traditional contractor, client relationship is strained in this model because there is no collaboration. It becomes all about the contract verbiage, and constant give and take until an acceptable outcome is achieved. The mindset of doing only what is detailed in the contract documents, nothing more, nothing less is not the ideal solution, and often leads to unhappy outcomes for one or more of the parties involved. Many times, opportunity costs are not something that is understood or accounted for, and while it appears like there may be time or monetary savings by doing one option over another, if all opportunity costs are not identified and quantified then many savings opportunities become unrealized.

This client was challenged in finding a contractor that could design and build broadband equipment sites which included test and turn-up responsibilities to meet the requirements of the Federal Connect America Fund project. This project was extremely large and complex and there were many details that had not been finalized prior to project acceptance. In the traditional contractor, client relationship, these projects would have been rejected back to the client for more detail. This would have wasted precious time in the overall project cycle time, which would have put the completion dates in jeopardy due to short construction windows based on permitting requirements drafted around the regional geography and weather. The other common outcome would have been that the projects were design face value, with no addition thought around opportunity costs.

Solution:

Bonfire Engineer and Consulting took a different approach. Realizing the power of collaboration and understanding the full project life cycle, while relying on our collective expertise, we understood that by working with all parties involved, instead of focusing on just our contractual responsibility, we would be able to create efficiencies and value that would impact the overall success of the project. Because of Bonfire’s internal processes, knowledge and quality control, we set out to design exactly what the customer wanted, but always looked for additional opportunities to save time and money. We performed site surveys on all the projects where broadband equipment was identified by our client to be placed, we reviewed the program requirements, so we were confident that the identified sites were going to meet both the Federal requirements as well as our client’s requirements. More importantly we identified many opportunities to save both time and money or better serve customers, by utilizing existing infrastructure. We put together a comprehensive list of recommended changes, where the opportunity cost savings would occur and got the approval to move forward with a different approach to the original proposals. These changes ultimately saved our client substantial time and money by avoiding costly expenses related to additional permitting fees, commercial power connection’s, restoration costs etc., while providing additional customers with the opportunity to connect to better broadband services, all in a timelier manner and at a lower cost.

Why the partnership work:

This partnership works on many different levels. Bonfire helped fill in all the little gaps to create the most efficient solution for both the client and the end user. Second the client is always getting more than expected, at a price point that is less than anticipated. Third with service providers, the cost of providing service is always reflected in the rates charged to their end users. By reducing the overall cycle times and cost to provide the service, not only does the client benefit with a better bottom line, but so does the end user with a lower cost of service. In addition, by reducing project cycle times the client can actualize revenues earlier than anticipated, and potentially reallocate the savings towards additional capital projects.

YOU HAVE COMPLEX PROBLEMS.
WE HAVE SCALABLE END-TO-END SOLUTIONS.

Bonfire people go the extra mile. They want me to be successful and that’s a huge difference when dealing with previous contractors.

– Bill M.

The follow through on their work is the best I have seen from a contract company.

– Jim S.

The transparency that they provide me allows me to effectively manage expectations internally with my management team, which saves a lot of time and hassle.